


The Ties That Bind Us

by nuclearpoweredsuperhero



Category: Batman - All Media Types, DCU, Superman - All Media Types
Genre: BDSM, How Do I Tag, M/M, Non-Sexual Bondage, Non-Sexual Kink, Possessive Behavior, Rope Bondage, Sort Of, Trust, can be read as platonic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-24
Updated: 2021-01-24
Packaged: 2021-03-16 11:13:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,668
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28955523
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nuclearpoweredsuperhero/pseuds/nuclearpoweredsuperhero
Summary: Bruce needs to learn to give up his control sometimes. Kal is all too happy to help.
Relationships: Clark Kent/Bruce Wayne
Comments: 2
Kudos: 59





	The Ties That Bind Us

Bruce bowed his head so that it hung between Kal’s thighs. The kneeling position was already slipping him into subspace, even though they hadn’t started anything. On the bed in front of him and behind Kal, there were a couple lengths and colours of rope – the soft kind that Kal always used during the rare events Bruce allowed Kal to bind him. The distinct colours stood out stark against the black bedsheets and Bruce felt his heartbeat increase just at the thought of them.

Kal petted his head and Bruce purred, eyes sliding closed. “Already, bat?” he teased. Bruce only purred again. Kal knew he wouldn’t verbally respond in this headspace, but Bruce found that the Kryptonian didn’t mind talking to himself. Bruce opened his eyes as Kal stepped away. He didn’t look up – that wasn’t allowed – but he watched Kal’s feet disappear out of his vision.

Bruce listened to his own breathing until he felt the presence of Kal behind him. A small object was pressed into his hands and Kal didn’t let go until Bruce wrapped his fingers around the familiar bell. “Non-verbal?” Kal asked. Bruce nodded once. “Okay. You know the signals. Green?” Bruce shook the bell twice. “Good. Yellow?” Bruce shook it once. “Good. Red?” Bruce dropped the bell and it clattered as it hit the wooden floor. Kal put a steady hand on Bruce’s head as he bent down to retrieve the bell and give it back to Bruce. “Good, bat. No response after 5 seconds, automatic red.” Bruce nodded to show Kal he understood.

Kal walked in front of Bruce and tapped underneath Bruce’s chin. “Eyes up.” Bruce lifted his head and watched as Kal moved to the bed and picked up the end of some blue rope, pulling on it and threading it through his hands. Bruce knew he had already looked over every strand of the rope, but he didn’t complain. This was for show; to both show Bruce that he had checked over the rope and to show Bruce what he was in for.

Bruce swallowed and tried to keep his heartbeat at a steady rate but, judging by Kal’s look at him, he didn’t succeed. When Kal got to the end of the final rope he picked up two of the shorter ones – a deep black, both approximately 2 meters in length – and walked around to behind Bruce. “I’m going to move your arms to where I want them,” he said simply. That was another thing Bruce liked about Kal, he told Bruce exactly what he was going to do and always left room for Bruce to refuse.

Bruce nodded once and let himself be manhandled into the position Kal wanted. He kept kneeling in the position Kal wanted, back straight and shoulders back, as Kal moved his arms behind his back, left on top of right. The Kryptonian started where Bruce’s left wrist sat on top of his right forearm. Bruce quickly figured out what Kal was doing, but he kept still.

When Kal had finished one side he tugged on the knot. “Good?” he asked Bruce. Bruce flicked his restrained wrist twice, jingling the bell for the ‘green’ sign. It was both a test that he could still use the bell and a check-in. "Good,” Kal said.

Kal did the same cuff with the other piece of rope. At his command, Bruce tugged on the restraints to make sure they stayed in place and didn’t pull painfully. Kal placed a firm hand between Bruce’s shoulder blades, making Bruce aware of the pain of his protesting back muscles. The soft pillowy blanket below his knees protected them but Bruce’s back was already protesting, and Bruce growled at it internally. He was there to be at the mercy of Kal, not at his own body’s inability to sit in one position for 20 minutes.

“Stop thinking badly of yourself.” Kal’s voice startled Bruce out of his own head. “Your heartrate is the same every time you berate yourself.” He walked around Bruce and crouched in front of him, grabbing his chin and making them lock eyes. “There will be none of that tonight, bat. That’s my job, if I choose to do so. Understood?” Kal’s voice was stern, and it shocked Bruce enough that he didn’t respond in time. The hand holding his chin strengthened its grip to the point of near-pain. “I asked you a question, bat.” Bruce nodded in response, holding down a noise of pain. It wasn’t enough for the use of the bell, Kal knew how to handle his own strength.

Kal nodded and let go of Bruce’s chin and stood up. Bruce wouldn’t admit that he felt mildly sad at the sudden loss of the hold. “I did have a different plan, but now that you clearly need to be reminded who’s in charge around here, I have something else in mind,” Kal explained calmly.

He picked up the sections of long, ocean-blue rope. They were lucky to find the colour that so closely matched Kal’s suit. Kal walked over, one length of rope in his hands. He brushed the loose hair out of Bruce’s face. His touch was so gentle, and Bruce leaned into his hand, closing his eyes.

“Bat, I’m going to tie your legs, okay? They will not be tied to anything, nor will they be tied together. It is simply to keep you in a kneeling position for me.” Bruce nodded. “Okay, I will need to sit you down in order to tie them, and then I will make you kneel again.” Bruce nodded again. Kal held Bruce steady by his waist to help him move from the kneel to sit down, legs in front of him and bent at the knee.

Watching Kal wrap the blue rope around his right leg enraptured him. It stood out starkly against the black dress pants he was wearing, and he was sure that it had a similar – if not the same – effect on Kal. As Kal tested the tie, Bruce took a better look at it.

It was a simple frog tie, nothing fancy, but the only thing Bruce could think about was how it was so similar to Kal’s suit, and the fact that they had bought a lot of the blue rope meant it was most likely going to be the main colour Kal used for the rest of his plan. Bruce swallowed thickly at the idea and the sound caught Kal’s attention as he moved to begin tying Bruce’s other leg.

“Bat? You aren’t in charge today,” he said softly, noticing Bruce looking at the tie and testing it out slightly. “Trust me to do everything right. That’s what this session is about, is it not?” Bruce made an affirmative noise. “Close your eyes, please. Focus on the feeling of the rope, not on if it will hold.”

Bruce hesitated, but obeyed Kal. He focused on the feeling of the tightening rope around his thigh and ankle. A small part of his brain panicked at the restraint. He couldn’t get out easily, he was completely at the mercy of Kal’s plan, what if he dropped the bell and Kal didn’t-

“Bat!”

The snap stopped Bruce’s train of thought immediately. He kept his eyes closed, but he could feel how close Kal was to his face. “Colour?” Kal asked. Bruce thought, but called green with the bell before the 5 seconds were up. “Bat, don’t let yourself spiral like that. You aren’t being restrained to be hurt, you’re doing it because you need to let go of your control and trust me. I’m in control here.” Kal’s voice was firm and his hand in Bruce’s hair was the same. Bruce opened his eyes as Kal

“Who’s in control?” Kal asked.

Bruce frowned. Kal knew he wouldn’t talk – couldn’t – in subspace. He could force it out but it never ended up well for Bruce’s headspace after that happened. Kal knelt in front of Bruce and between his legs.

“Who is in control?” Kal asked again. Bruce opened his mouth to force out an answer, but Kal put a hand under his chin and placed his thumb on Bruce’s lips. Bruce had an idea and looked up at Kal, pouring all his trust into the gaze, before closing his eyes and sighing. “Good bat,” Kal praised, and Bruce could hear the smile on his face. “The ties are done, I’m going to lift you up so you can kneel for me, bat.”

Bruce nodded and let himself relax as Kal picked him up and positioned him back into a kneeling position. Because of the ties, Bruce had no choice but to sit back on the back of his shins. His back still ached, but it was dulling quickly (or he was being desensitised to it).

Kal ran his hands over the anchor points of the rope ties, pulling a sigh out of Bruce’s lips. “Are you ready, bat?” he asked. His voice had dropped to a low rumble which washed over Bruce and calmed him further. Bruce shook the bell twice, not trusting his neck to hold up his head if he moved it. Kal ran a hand over Bruce’s cheek and chuckled as Bruce’s head followed it until his chin was resting against his chest. Bruce lifted his head and blinked his eyes open, meeting Kal’s gaze. “Close your eyes again, bat, you look so good like that. All dreamy and trusting.”

Bruce nodded and closed his eyes again. He listened to Kal sorting through ropes on the bed before padding over and stopping behind Bruce. Some rope was threaded through the cuffs behind his back and wrapped around his waist. A simple waist harness, which meant Kal was going to anchor something to it.

He got lost in the tightening of ropes and occasional check-ins. Anchors sat around his waist and across his back, and Bruce relished in the weight and tension of the ropes surrounding his body. Sometimes Kal would leave him, only a hand on his head as a warning, but he would never leave for long. Bruce assumed it was for more rope, considering whatever Kal was creating across his chest seemed to use a lot of it.

Suddenly, Kal knelt directly in front of Bruce and tilted his head up. “Open your eyes, bat,” he commanded. Bruce blinked open his eyes, wincing at the lights. He closed them again as the light became too much to keep them open. Bruce heard Kal move away from him and noticed the lights dim from behind his eyelids. Kal returned and took back up his position. “Open your eyes now, bat,” he said, voice still firm. Bruce opened his eyes and looked straight at Kal, not looking at the ropes around him until he was allowed to. “How do you feel?” he asked.

Bruce rung the bell twice. His arms were beginning to teeter from ‘light ache’ to ‘actually hurting’ but it wasn’t unbearable. Kal petted his head and looked down at the ropes around Bruce’s head. “Oh, don’t you look wonderful, bats,” he cooed. “Maybe I should take some pictures.” It wasn’t a question directed at Bruce, but Bruce still rung the bell twice. Kal tutted softly and poked Bruce’s nose. “You’re not in charge here, remember?” he admonished. “Lucky for you, I agree.”

Kal wandered to a dresser where his camera lied. Bruce stayed still as Kal took pictures of his handiwork. As he took photos from various angles, praises and compliments spilled from his lips.

That was something that separated Bruce and Kal; Kal was always kind and gentle, even when he was giving commands, but Bruce had a very different personality during scenes – stern and cold, but always ready to let his partner(s) know he was doing it for them, not for himself.

When Kal was done, he picked up a mirror and placed it down in front of Bruce but at an angle that Bruce couldn’t see himself. “Are you ready, bats?” Bruce nodded. “You can look at yourself and the ropes, but I don’t want you to look anywhere else.” Bruce nodded again, just wanting to know what Kal had created on his chest.

Kal turned the mirror so that Bruce could stare into his own eyes and look at the rope surrounding his body.

As he assumed, Kal had used the blue rope to cover his body in fancy knots and decorative ties. The one stand-out was the front of the chest harness – the thing that the anchor points were connected to. It was bright red and Bruce couldn’t take his eyes off it once he looked at it.

Kal’s words echoed in his head. He needed to be reminded who was in charge, and Kal had certainly reminded him. The Superman logo took over his whole chest and went down to just below his sternum. Kal stepped forward and stood beside Bruce, placing a hand on Bruce’s head and burying his fingers in Bruce’s hair.

The image in the mirror was one that Bruce wished Kal could take a photo of. Bruce had no doubts about who was in charge as he looked in the mirror. Kal standing beside him with the Superman symbol covering Bruce’s chest, it made Bruce melt internally.

“Do you know, bat?” Kal asked, looking at Bruce in the mirror. “Do you know who’s in charge?”

Bruce nodded and shook the bell twice, just so Kal understood that he knew. Kal squatted down beside him and tilted Bruce’s head to look at Kal face-to-face. “Thank you for giving me your trust, bat,” he said. “How about we get you out of these ropes and I’ll get you some heat packs and balm.”

“Okay,” Bruce croaked out. Honestly, he didn’t want to get rid of the logo, but Kal had taken pictures and he could print them out and put them safely away.

The untying process was just as intimate and soothing as the act of tying. Bruce felt his muscles relax and then immediately protest when he moved them. The harness was taken off first, considering it was connected to everything else, and Bruce watched himself in the mirror as Clark fluttered around, untying knots with ease.

Bruce slumped as his arms were unbound from his back, groaning at his muscles’ protests. “You better have some good heat packs, Clark,” he said, leaning forward and hoping to relieve some of the stress on his back as Clark undid the leg ties. “I think I’m going to feel this for the next week.”

Clark chuckled. “Don’t worry, I know just the thing,” he said, pulling the final length of rope away from Bruce’s legs and allowing him to fully stretch out on the floor. Bruce dropped the bell, a soft jingle reaching his as it rolled across the floor. “Bit late for that,” Clark teased, picking up the bell and returning it to the bed with the remaining rope (that Bruce will end up cleaning tomorrow morning, putting everything away as he likes).

Bruce watched Clark’s movements as the Kryptonian crouched beside him. “Come on, B, let’s get you to the couch. I’ve already got blankets and heat packs ready to be warmed up.” Bruce rolled over with a (slightly dramatic) groan and let Clark pick him up off the floor. Just being in close proximity to Clark’s warmth soothed his muscle aches, and so Bruce curled up against his partner’s chest and hummed contently.

“Thank you… for doing that,” he mumbled. “You have to print out those pictures though.”

Clark’s laugh rumbled in his chest. “I’m wounded that you’d doubt me, Bruce,” he teased. “Those are treasured pictures, and they’ll go in the box with the others.” Bruce nodded in agreement and felt himself drifting off as Clark walked. Clark knew what he was doing, Bruce told himself, so he gently drifted off to sleep in his partner’s arms, a soft smile on his face.

**Author's Note:**

> First time writing something like this, hope you enjoyed :)


End file.
